Nikko gets badmouthed by OG’s coach, Taiga banned for life: Dota 2 ends April with a BetBoom

The final week of Dota 2 had all of it: there was no scarcity of drama, healthful tales, and really attention-grabbing bulletins.

As we head into Might, let’s have a look again at how the Dota 2 esports scene wrapped up the month. And I’ll be sincere, it’s given me a whole lot of hope for what’s to return.

Weeks in the past, the OG Dota 2 staff made a surprising announcement, benching offlaner Nikko “Nikko” Bilocura and unveiling Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek – a really shocking addition to the lineup.

The staff’s coach, 343, just lately went on a podcast to spill the beans, and let’s simply say he didn’t maintain something again. 

The Malaysian coach was invited onto a podcast on the DotaDoc channel, the place he revealed what actually occurred behind the scenes and why the staff finally determined to let Nikko go. In response to him, the previous offlaner was benched because of out-of-game components. Right here’s a abstract of 343’s details:

As somebody who has adopted Nikko’s journey for fairly some time, I can say that he’s very individually expert and might be probably the most mechanically gifted participant on the staff. 

But when 343’s claims are true, this habits will do a staff extra hurt than good. A part of being an expert Dota participant is having each ability and work ethic; the latter, together with belief, is what retains a staff collectively.

I imply, 343 has each motive to be livid – I can’t argue with that – however grilling him with no filter on a public podcast is most undoubtedly going to harm the Filipino’s fame and profession in the long term.

I hope he can bounce again, as he’s a very proficient participant. 

I do know what staff I’ll be cheering on for the remainder of the season.

The South American Rejects, an unsponsored squad, just lately made a deep run at PGL Wallachia Season 8, ending within the high six. With no type or organizational backing, these guys needed to dig into their very own wallets to fly to Europe, cowl primary requirements, and compete on the occasion. 

It’s secure to say this ragtag group of Peruvian gamers exceeded expectations. They took down high groups like Workforce Yandex and Xtreme Gaming of their Wallachia conquest. Sadly, Workforce Liquid needed to damage the enjoyable, knocking them out of the event.

However hey, they have been compensated $60,000 for his or her efforts.

As a substitute of basking in that bag, the South American Rejects are investing all of it – not in shares or crypto – however in themselves. They’re utilizing the winnings to remain longer in Europe and bootcamp, the place they’ll scrim towards one of the best groups on this planet and sharpen their gameplay.

That is such a cool story and reveals simply how a lot they consider in themselves. At Wallachia, they confirmed nice promise. The Rejects would discover themselves within the lead in video games towards high squads like Workforce Liquid, however usually struggled to shut out video games.

The potential is clearly there, and with a bit little bit of sharpening, I really feel like these guys are good for an additional deep run. They’ve definitely earned my respect, and I hope an org picks them up actual quickly. 

Talking of PGL Wallachia, BetBoom Workforce ended up successful the entire occasion, and in very convincing vogue. They clearly regarded like one of the best staff on the occasion. 

The squad went 3-0 in teams and didn’t drop a single recreation within the playoffs, making a flawless run to the grand remaining. They then swept Japanese European rivals Aurora within the grand remaining, settling the rating on the excellent time. BetBoom Workforce’s huge win means they take residence $300,000 and their first event win of the yr.

The Wallachia trophy additionally marks the latest addition, Ilya “Kiritych” Ulyanov’s first S Tier victory. The 23-year-old had some very huge sneakers to fill after changing Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko following The Worldwide 14. However, he’s been enjoying very secure Dota and doing his job nicely.

Nonetheless, credit score should go to Danil “gpk” Skutin and Vitalie “Save-” Melnic. These guys are clearly BetBoom Workforce’s finest gamers, with the previous voted because the occasion’s MVP. 

In 2024, former OG and Workforce Liquid help participant Tommy “Taiga” Le was uncovered for match-fixing. That’s proper – regardless of being a Main winner and being employed beneath a number of the greatest orgs within the scene, this fella was betting on his personal matches, even in S Tier tournaments.

He wasn’t essentially throwing video games, however was enjoying round with outcomes like First Bloods – issues he would affect with out blatantly making his staff lose. 

Since then, his Dota 2 profession has been just about over. Taiga went from being a extremely revered, healthful participant to probably the most disliked figures within the scene. Not fully positive what he’s as much as as of late, however I noticed him opening a betting group on Telegram, inviting his followers to affix – who is aware of what’s taking place in there. 

In any case, the Esports Integrity Fee (ESIC) has lastly slammed the ban hammer on Taiga. He was handed a lifetime ban from all ESIC member occasions.

Took you lengthy sufficient, ESIC. 

Following TORONTOTOKYO’s seemingly random signing to OG, now we have another person treading in his footsteps. TI winner and European participant Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov has additionally marked Southeast Asia as his subsequent vacation spot. The previous Workforce Liquid participant has joined Indonesian squad REKONIX, this time because the staff’s coach.

MinD_ContRoL has made ventures to SEA earlier than, discovering a short stint in Workforce SMG for The Worldwide 2023, which didn’t go too nicely. Nonetheless, he’s suiting up for a very completely different function, transitioning from enjoying to teaching for the primary time.

He finds himself in a squad stuffed with Indonesian gamers. REKONIX is a staff on the rise – they’ve snagged a number of Southeast Asian qualifier slots to make appearances on the greatest occasions.

Nonetheless, REKONIX usually struggles towards the highest canines and infrequently finally ends up as cannon fodder. 

MinD_ContRoL appears to make a distinction and revive Indonesian Dota 2, as we’ll see his squad compete at DreamLeague Season 29 for his or her first Tier 1 event. And actually, if REKONIX makes it to the playoffs, he clearly is aware of one thing we don’t.